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DE: Queering Twitter

My first attempt to tweet while in class was interesting to say the least. It was quite difficult to stay engaged while trying to come up with a tweet that would be coherent. I found that I could not think fully thought the statements that others where making. I think that is does sure to ask questions to be discussed at a later time. This is a great way to continue class discussions. I think it could be a useful took to include others in the fold, also it is a helpful way to keep notes. the majority if my tweets where questions that I had or that were asked by others. I think it would be more interesting if others were also live tweeting, but it may take peoples attention out of the class all together. I'm wondering what would happen if the live feed was kept on the screen in the front of the class, it may be a way to structure class discussion. Someone who does not speak much may find their voice this way.
Does tweeting challenge that normative structure of the class room? Sure it does but the space is still privileged as well as the knowledge. Who is able to participate in 140 characters. I wonder if ideas can be fully transmitted.

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2 Comments

I think the idea of live tweeting is certainly an interesting idea and definitely queers the way that people participate in a classroom setting. From coming from a perspective of someone who has only used tweeting recreationally, the very thought of tweeting for academia in itself is very queer. I can imagine that it would be difficult to try and participate in the physical space of the class while also participating in the virtual setting. I can only speak from my little experience with live tweeting, during award shows and other extremely critical cultural events, that it is certainly a task to be both engaged with the physical and virtual word in a coherent manner. I think that live tweeting gives shy people, like myself, another voice where they can be more comfortable in sharing their views. I think your critique of the 140 character limit is important because it really forces us to make our ideas concise and brief, which can act as a double edged sword.

Thanks for experimenting with a live-tweet! I tried one of these in my queering desire class last fall and it was difficult/productive/limited. I wrote about it on my blog: live-tweeting class: an experiment

When I was live-tweeting, I found myself in "documenting" mode (that is, trying to capture what others were saying) instead of "engaging" mode. However, by documenting the "live" conversation, I was able to engage with the ideas later (and so were other people). How can live-tweeting enable us to queer classroom time?

In terms of putting the live feed on the screen, I think that's a great idea. I have some logistical issues with that--I don't know how to keep the live feed going without having to refresh it when new tweets come up. I'll have to do some research on it...any suggestions?